On the morning of September 6, 2019, Premier Li Keqiang held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who was paying an official visit to China.

Li Keqiang expressed, Germany is an all-round strategic partner of China and the Chinese side attaches great importance to China-Germany relations. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with you. At a time when global economy is facing downward pressure, and protectionism and unilateralism continue to rise, enhancing bilateral strategic communication and cooperation as well as maintaining the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations not only benefit China-European Union (EU) relations, but are also conducive to world peace, stability and prosperity.

Li Keqiang noted, China and Germany should grasp the general trend of the world, safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core. Both countries need to uphold the principle of openness and inclusiveness to expand two-way opening-up of the markets. China will not change its initiative to expand market opening-up, nor will it change the policy of welcoming foreign investment. China will also further enhance the protection of intellectual property rights. It is hoped the German side can keep its market open, relax export restrictions on civil technologies and treat Chinese enterprises in a fair and just manner in terms of investment review and market access. China stands ready to deepen cooperation with the German side in such areas as autonomous driving, technological innovation and artificial intelligence. We hope the German side will support the further expansion of China-Germany traffic rights agreement and stand ready to enhance cooperation in youth exchanges and vocational education with the German side, so as to cement the public opinion foundation for the development of bilateral relations.

Li Keqiang noted, the Chinese side always attaches great importance to the status and role of Europe and is ready to establish a sound cooperative relationship with new leaders of the EU institutions, step up dialogues, enhance mutual trust and push forward the negotiations on China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and the agreement of geographical indications, thus to push forward the upgrading of the China-EU cooperation in various fields.

Angela Merkel expressed, I am very delighted to pay my 12th visit to China as German Chancellor. China has made tremendous development achievements in the past decades. Especially since its accession to the WTO, China has maintained close trade contacts with other countries and achieved mutual benefit and multi-win results. China has played a responsible role in the 2008 international financial crisis and made outstanding contributions to the world, fueling the recovery and growth of the world economy. China has the same right to develop itself as other countries and China's development process should not be impeded. The well-being of the Chinese people is also in the interests of all countries in the world.

Angela Merkel expressed, Germany and China enjoy extensive cooperation with bilateral relations being continuously enhanced. Both Germany and China support multilateralism and free trade. The German side looks forward to the holding of a new round of Germany-China Inter-governmental Consultation in China next year and concluding the EU-China BIT negotiations during Germany's term as the EU rotating presidency for promoting a more reliable trade partnership between the EU and China. The German side welcomes recent opening-up measures taken by the Chinese side in such fields as finance, insurance and service industry and is willing to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese side in such areas as autonomous driving, digitalization, and vocational education. The German side will also welcome Chinese companies' investment in Germany as always. Both countries should also deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges covering youth exchanges.

Both sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

After the talks, Li Keqiang and Angela Merkel witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents and jointly met the press.

Prior to the talks, Li Keqiang held a welcome ceremony for Angela Merkel at the square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People.

On the morning of the same day, Li Keqiang had a breakfast meeting with Angela Merkel at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and they exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and cooperation and on a wide range of topics about international and regional issues.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and Director of the National Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng, and others were present at relevant events.